Wagner ceramic pads vs. Honda OEM

[M1Accord]

Originally Posted By: MarkM66
Originally Posted By: M1Accord
OP here.

I decided to run with OEM and got them installed by a guy I know. Just let say the work was done right but the labor was outrageous. In this economy, people have managed to scam for more money for less work and killing their chance of repeat work. I won't go going back anymore if I can help it.


Changing brake pads is about as easy as it gets.

Instead of complaining about someone's labor rate, why didn't you just do it you yourself? There's tons of resources out there for information.

And if you don't know how to do the job, what makes you think the "job was done right?"

I do know how to do the job but I was trying to give someone some business since I actually care about people. Given that the previous work (many of them) were at $50/hr labor rate, I expected this to be $150. Additionally, I needed my rotors resurface and I don't have the tool to do that.

It is not hard to know if a brake job was done right. You stated it yourself that there are tons of information out there. However, I wanted to give someone a chance to make some money in this hard economic time as he has a sick daughter and has been out of steady work for 5 years when he closed his shops due to not being able to retain good help and can't make the shop rental payment. The guy is not a bad mechanic as he has tools to do many things and is more than capable of doing them. He is just greedy and not very smart at making money and focus on quick bucks instead of planning things out. I had work done there and at $50/hr, he was technically very well compensated because he could make $300/day on average. But at $100/hr which he charged me and the stating the labor was 2.5 hrs when it could easily had taken him 1.5 if he let the rotors turned automatically while working on other things, he is doing what jobbers and cab drivers doing, dragging things out to make more money for the same work. Then he wasted 3 hrs b/s-ing with me then with his buddies when he should be at work or find way to get more work. So being nice to people cost me because they know I got money and a good heart.

 

[M1Accord]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
I also want to know what is his idea of "outrageous". I presume he is talking about rear brakes. On some cars, they are little less easier than the front. Anywhere under $100 in DC metro area should not be considered "outrageous" when somebody comes to your house and does it for you.

- Vikas


I drove about 80 miles to see the person. And had to wait till he finished another person car. During the wait, I saw what he got paid for the previous 2 hrs working on a much harder task of replacing a ball bearing for the rear wheels. That include very similar labor as changing brake pads and rotors as those things are removed before the ball bearing can be work on. And the shop owner gave him $60 cash for that.

He spend roughly 1.5-2 hrs on my rear brakes but that could have easily cut down to 1 or 1.5 hour if he let the rotors be turned while working on other things instead of standing around waiting for the rotors to be turned then do one thing at the time. Additionally, $100/hr is what dealership charges and this is just a previously abandoned warehouse in southern VA. He didn't want me to pay him in the shop and only gave the shop $30 out of the $200 I gave him. Two hundreds dollars is a lot of money for getting someone with very little overhead to change your brakes with your parts and they live far away.

 

[mechanicx]

I guess this is an example of no good deed going unpunished. Maybe this is why the guy is having financial hardship in the first place, he is too greedy and not giving good value to his customers.

 

[M1Accord]

By the way, I had brought my vehicles there before and had spent 800 dollars on labor in a single day where I got many things replaced on my Accord when it hit 100k miles and everything including brake pads were OEM. I got there at 7 a.m. and he worked on it until midnight to get everything done and charged my labor hours based on the book. So in one day he managed to get enough money to pay his mortgage, utility and water bills, and a little more. Not a bad day because I don't even see that much money in cash after tax unless I put in 40 hrs or work as an engineer. Most people don't make $50/hr after tax in this economy.

 

[M1Accord]

Originally Posted By: mechanicx
I guess this is an example of no good deed going unpunished. Maybe this is why the guy is having financial hardship in the first place, he is no giving good value to his customers.


You are correct. This is probably why he had to close his shop(s) and was forced to fix cars out of his one-car garage at his tiny house for 4+ years that I knew him. The place he works at is a cash or gun place (typical of the Virginia) where people can either pay or barter a gun for car service.

The reason a dealership or a big shop charge $100/hr is because they have to pay for training, certification, benefits, insurance (big fee), and much higher property rental cost in additional to business and income tax. A warehouse with make-shift lift(s) and one actually hydraulic lift doesn't have very high overhead cost and should be fine at a $50-$70/hr labor rate.

This experience combined with the fact that many shops in Virginia are using annual state inspection as a catch-all scam to make quick money has alter my view about owning older vehicles. At my income level, it may be more enjoyable to buy new vehicles and keep for 15 years, at which point major services are needed, and private sale to buy another new vehicles. Then I won't have to worry about state inspection scam because a property cared for cars will not need much while under 15 years old.

 

[MarkM66]

Originally Posted By: M1Accord
However, I wanted to give someone a chance to make some money in this hard economic time as he has a sick daughter and has been out of steady work for 5 years when he closed his shops due to not being able to retain good help and can't make the shop rental payment.


That being the case, now I REALLY don't see why you complained about the cost.

 

[Vikas]

Where in VA are you? My brother lives in Herndon area and he has found couple of trustworthy shops in the area. Both of them are ethnic and they are not dirt cheap but he has been able to work with them. He also had another guy come to his house for some brake work.

- Vikas

 

[AlphaMale8]

Ceramic pads usually don't have much bite until they warm up.

That said, I have Wagner ThermoQuiets in both my Nissan and Honda, and they don't fit perfectly, so what happens is when I hit bumps or step on the brake pedal, I hear a clang because the pads are probably not the exact spec as OEM. I put some silicone behind the pads on the Nissan and that fixed the clanging, but with the Civic, it only makes noise when I step on the pedal. Anyone notice this with their Wagner pads?

They are pretty quiet though as per their name.

 

[rshaw125]

I put the Wagner thermo quiets on my 2006 Explorer. The factory pads were ceramic so I used the ceramic thermo quiets. The oem pads had a definite initial bite that the Wagners don't have. Takes some getting used to.

 

[FZ1]

Originally Posted By: M1Accord
Which is better as far as braking power and longevity? They're about the same price and my OEM from 2002 made it to past 100k miles.

Thanks.
So,100,000 wasn't good enough? I prefer the oem.

 

[stephen9666]

I replaced the pads and rotors on my Hyundai with Raybestos rotors and Bendix CT-3 ceramic pads.

I was satisfied at first, but now I'm not very happy with them.

The pads seem to be glazed, as stopping performance isn't very good. The first few stops o the day aren't very good. It seems that after the pads warm up and you clean off the top layer of pad, the car will stop well. If you make an intentionally hard stop the car seems to stop better after that.

I should note that I tried to follow the break in procedure. Also, these pads are GG rated. The original pads were FF.

I took the pads off and sanded them. That helped for a little while, but now they seem to be glazed again.

These pads aren't cheap. They were $58 shipped from amazon. I wish I would have gone with OE pads or a semi-metallic pad.

 

[meep]

I've got thermoq's waiting to go in the jeep. after re-lubing and re-gooping the oem's, the squeal is BACK.

I believe the jeep's oem were supplied by akebono, oddly enough. They are listed as oem on the advanced auto website for my vehicle.

there is still more material on the oem's than the brand new wagners.

M

 

[Dan55]

I was not happy with the oem on my 2007 Fit so I went with the Akebono, so far so good.